Compton, Withdrawal of Plea From 2004, Deportation Averted

Our client, living in the Compton area in 2004, got into an argument with his wife that quickly escalated into a pushing match. The wife “won” insofar as the police came, arrested our client and he was convicted for felony domestic violence under Penal Code § 273.5.

The wife realized in 2015, however, that they both really lost because her husband was facing deportation back to Mexico. She had never been employed here in the United States and her husband was her only support. The couple had a young child in elementary school. They would all be forced to move back to Mexico and leave the United States.

Because her husband worked so many hours, the wife (instead of her husband) called Greg Hill & Associates to ask if there was anything that our office could do to help. While a public defender represented the client in his quick plea in 2004, Greg recognized the issue that perhaps the immigration consequences of a plea to felony domestic violence were never explained.

The law on this subject is set fourth at Padilla v. Kentucky, a 2010 U.S. Supreme Court case, found at 559 U.S. 356. In Padilla, the Supreme Court held that a defendant has the right to effective assistance of counsel when discussing the immigration consequences of a conviction before entering a plea bargain.

Moreover, Penal Code § 1016.5(b) provides that a defendant may ask a judge to withdraw his or her plea if the immigration warnings are not present in the transcript of the proceedings.

When Greg explained the issue to the client’s wife, she quickly said that the judge made this mistake in never explaining the consequences to her husband.

Greg Hill thus obtained the minute order for the client’s case and looked to the date when the plea was entered. The minutes contained no mention of the immigration warnings having been given. He could read there who the court reporter on that date was. Our office then contacted the reporter and ordered a copy of the transcript from the hearing in 2004.

The court reporter searched her records and responded to us that she had destroyed the records because they were over ten years old. She then signed a declaration under oath saying this.

Greg Hill and Associates next filed a motion to withdraw the plea under Penal Code Sections 1016.5 and 1018. The motion contained a declaration from not only the court reporter, but also the client stating that his public defender never discussed the immigration consequences of his plea and that had he known of the consequences, he would never have agreed to the plea bargain. The motion also noted that the court minutes were silent as to the judge giving such immigration warnings.

The judge ruling on the motion was the same judge in Compton who took our client’s plea eleven years earlier. He could have easily refused to acknowledge a defective plea or insisted that he made no error in taking the plea, but to his great credit, he took neither of these routes. Instead, he looked to the motion, the declarations, his notes and granted the motion.

The client’s wife was overjoyed with the court’s ruling, as her husband would be able to keep his job, supporting the family, and their son could remain in the same school. The deportation proceeding were then terminated.

For more information about the issues in this case, click on the following articles:

Thank you so much for putting so much effort in this case. We really appreciate it and we are happy that all turned out well. S.A., Torrance

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Greg Hill did an outstanding job on every level. He was efficient, thorough, knowledgeable, courteous, responsive & brilliant. He welcomed my input and my concerns. . . from the first conversation to the last - I always felt 'it mattered' to him. S.C., Rolling Hills Estates

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Thanks again for your hard work. We want you to know that we are very appreciative of all that you have done [on our son's] behalf. With warmest regards. L.H., Torrance

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